I have never been able to make up my mind whether to concentrate on art, writing or natural history. I usually concentrate on one of the three for a while, then concentrate on another of the three. Art, writing and natural history are intwined in my life and often involve teaching a combination of these subjects.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Children's Drawings...Lions and Tigers

Last Thursday was the first of five weeks of children's drawing. I told the children I would put their drawings on my blog. The drawings were done using markers. I brought in picture books and copies of two of Henri Rousseau's jungle plants paintings to give the children ideas for the backgrounds.

As I often do, I led them step by step through the process of seeing their animal. Since the class was small, each had a large plastic model to use.

One helpful hint is to start with the eye. The eye is one detail that encourages the artist to draw a larger picture.
Here is the model I worked from.

Below it is the sketch I drew as I talked.

I am not as concerned about drawing a really good lion from the model as I am about encouraging the children to look hard at their models. As it turned out, I made the muzzle much too long so that was a good opportunity for me to show the children how a drawing can be corrected if it is drawn in markers.

I also see that the legs are too long. However, the legs are fine for explaining how to keep front and back legs the same length by drawing a line of tiny dots across the page. We talked about where the back side legs seemed to be when we looked at the models even though our brains knew they were on the same level as the front legs. This was a good opportunity to discuss how things appear differently when they are farther away.

There wasn't anything I could easily do about drawing the body longer but we talked about the fact that it was too short.

About Me

I have been interested in art, writing and natural history since childhood.
After leaving elementary school teaching, I took a part-time job teaching drawing to children. That turned out to be a part-time job for the next twenty years. It was one of the most enjoyable jobs I have ever had.
During the same time I was a part-time educator for a local nature center and then an environmental educator for the county parks. When I am with children or adults in the woods or prairies or streams, I am sure there is nothing I could be doing that would make me happier. Throughout my teaching career, I have learned as much as I have taught. Along the way I have written articles and short stories and painted a lot of watercolors. Writing helps me understand myself and my world. Painting is pure pleasure.